Conversion to permanent vascular access is associated with improved markers of hemodialysis efficacy in children: Pediatric nephrology research consortium study.

Background And Objectives: Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) and grafts (AVG) are preferred permanent vascular access (PVA) for chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. Our objective was to examine the change in markers of HD efficacy after successful establishment of a PVA among children who started HD with a tunneled cuffed catheter (TCC).

Materials And Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were completed on patients from 20 pediatric dialysis centers. All patients used TCC prior to AVF/AVG, and each patient acted as his/her own control. Data on markers of HD efficacy (single-pool Kt/V, urea reduction ratio (URR), serum albumin and hematocrit (Hct)) were collected at the creation of AVF/AVG and for 2 years thereafter. Statistical methods included hypothesis testing and statistical modeling after adjusting for relevant demographic variables.

Results: First PVA was created in 98 individual children: 87 (89%) were AVF and 11 (11%) were AVG. The mean TCC vintage prior to AVF/AVG was 10.4 ± 17.3 months. At 1-year follow-up, Kt/V improved by 0.15 ± 0.06 (p = 0.02) and URR improved by 4.54 ± 1.17% (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, PVA was associated with improved serum albumin by 0.31 ± 0.07 g/dL (p < 0.0001) and Hct by 2.80 ± 0.65% (p < 0.0001) at 1 year. These HD efficacy markers remained statistically significant at 2-year follow-up. These observations were further supported by the adjusted models. Conversion to AVF was associated with statistically significant improvement in all four markers of HD efficacy at 1-year follow-up. This trend was not demonstrated for subjects who were converted to AVG.

Conclusion: Switching to PVA was associated with improved markers of HD efficacy, single-pool Kt/V, URR, serum albumin, and Hct. This improvement was mostly demonstrated at 1 year and maintained for the 2 year. The potential differential impact of the type of PVA on the trajectory of markers of HD efficacy should be further investigated.